ASIAN POP / AZN, R.I.P.

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, December 8, 2005

A 24-hour channel featuring unique original programming for Asian Americans, backed by the biggest and most powerful entity in the cable business? It seemed too good to be true. And apparently it was.

Last Thursday, some of the biggest names in cable television gathered in the grand ballroom of Manhattan's Marriott Marquis to celebrate the man who's arguably the biggest name of all: Brian Roberts, CEO and chairman of Comcast, the industry's reigning colossus. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications, an organization that has spent the past quarter-century helping to bring diversity to cable TV, both on screen and behind the scenes.

According to president Manish Jha, NAMIC named Roberts as recipient of its Silver Anniversary tribute not just because of his leadership in hiring and promoting minorities at Comcast but also because of his dedication to providing unique multicultural programming, as demonstrated by the company's recent launch of two highly touted new channels: TVOne, a joint venture with African American radio powerhouse RadioOne, and AZN TV, the "Network for Asian America." "We wanted to recognize this publicly," said Jha, when reached before the event. "We're pleased and we'd like to see this kind of commitment continue."

But at the event, the mood at the AZN TV table was oddly strained; executives seemed less than festive. And then came the highlight of the program: a candid live interview with Roberts. "As Brian was speaking, he talked a lot about TVOne, going on and on about how great it was," says one AZN guest, who declined to be identified by name. "He basically didn't mention AZN at all. All of the invited guests at the table were looking around, thinking, 'What's going on?' It was quite surreal."

The surreality went deeper than AZN's guests knew. According to multiple sources -- who requested anonymity because severance and transition details are not yet final -- a hard decision had been made more than two weeks earlier: The network was slated to be stripped down to a minimal operational team, its senior creative staff eliminated and its ambitious plans to produce a rich stream of original content by and for Asian Americans terminated, all before even a single season of programming ever aired.

AZN Rising

It was just eight months ago that the announcement splashed across the trades: International Channel -- the polyglot ethnic network that Comcast had acquired as an apparent throw-in during its billion-dollar deal with fellow cable giant Liberty Media -- would undergo a total reinvention. The patchwork quilt of ethnic programming, with swatches of airtime devoted to over 20 different immigrant communities, would have a single, clear purpose: all Asian programming, all the time.

AZN wouldn't be the only cable channel targeting Asian audiences in the United States -- a privately funded startup, ImaginAsian TV, had beaten AZN out of the gate with its launch, and MTV had announced that it was launching a trio of music-based channels aimed at Asian American youth.

But AZN was owned by Comcast, an entity with a virtual monopoly on most of America's biggest cable markets, giving it a significant distribution advantage over the competition. And AZN claimed it intended to invest heavily in producing its own shows. Shows by, for and about Asian Americans.

For the first time, a major television player was committing itself to put real professional talent and million-dollar budgets into fresh, original Asian American programming. And AZN fully expected to thrive.

"Advertisers have told us in the last two years that the Asian American market is the most desirable audience that can be delivered," said AZN managing director Steve Smith during the channel's March 28 press rollout. "This is a way for advertisers to reach this market very efficiently: the first national platform dedicated to Asian American viewers."

Comcast seemed dedicated to the cause as well. Certainly, its executives repeated again and again the talking point that the launch of AZN highlighted the company's commitment to diversity. "Comcast is committed to developing and delivering a diverse array of multicultural programming," Amy Banse, the company's senior vice president of content development, said in the channel's launch press release. "AZN Television will play that role for our Asian American customers."

The word in AZN's offices was that the channel would be given all the resources and leeway it needed to prove itself. This included top-drawer hires, like former Viacom vice president Peilin Chou, lured from Spike TV to oversee production and programming; Jay Chen, who jumped companies and continents to come on board as creative director, leaving a similar role at National Geographic Asia; and ESPN and MTV documentary producer Kimberly Wang, who was given the critical task of developing original shows for the nascent network. It also included major partnerships with outside producers and content partners, as AZN signed a string of expensive deals with the likes of the NBA and Sony, and bought original show concepts from Hollywood names like Teddy Zee, former head of Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment.

And then, on Monday -- a day that insiders say was chosen to avoid embarrassment at the NAMIC gala -- AZN's staff members in Denver and New York received an unwelcome holiday surprise. Channel chief Steve Smith had been laid off, with the rest of AZN's senior programming, acquisitions and promotional talent to follow, after an unspecified "transition period." The bulk of the staff, almost 43 employees, was being cut immediately, leaving a handful of mostly junior staffers.

When asked for comment, Comcast released the following statement through spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick: "We are restructuring AZN to leverage consolidated network functions in Comcast's programming operations. As we complete this restructuring, we will continue to deliver high-quality programming for Asian Americans, and the programming and viewing experience will remain essentially unchanged."

Unchanged from what's on the air right now, that is. Which is to say, more or less what was on the air before Comcast acquired the channel. Variety shows and news from Hong Kong. Japanese animation. Soap operas from Korea. Bollywood movies. Valuable content, but nothing groundbreaking -- and nothing targeted specifically at Asian Americans. With senior managers dedicated to development and acquisitions gone, some staff members wonder what will happen once the channel runs out its string. As one employee put it, "They don't want to be seen as killing it, so they're going to let it die on the vine."

Business is business, of course, even for companies that proudly tout their commitment to diversity and community service. And hidden behind the hype and glory of AZN's launch were some financial intricacies that suggest the channel is ultimately as valuable to Comcast dead as alive, if not more so. This is because the deal that landed the channel in Comcast's lap was actually part of an intricate fiscal tango in which Comcast received $545 million in tax-free cash, called a "cash-rich split-off."

Because of certain arcane IRS regulations, at least 5 percent of the assets transferred in a cash-rich split-off have to be in the form of a business "engaged in the active conduct of a trade or commerce" -- in this case, International Channel. This business also has to continue operating for a certain period of time after transfer, the rule of thumb being one year.

After that, the parent company is free to liquidate it if it so wishes, thereby absorbing the subsidiary's assets -- which, in this case, include a half-billion dollars in tax-free cash. By that standard, one should note that on July 28, 2005, the anniversary of the transaction, the statutory incentive for AZN's existence essentially went away.

Changing Channels

By choosing to put the bottom line above its corporate credo of "respect[ing] and reflect[ing] the customers, communities, and cultures we serve," the company opens itself up for accusations of, at the least, hypocrisy.

"This is deeply disturbing," said Kai Yu, director of the advocacy group Asian Media Watch. "How could Brian Roberts and other Comcast execs think that reaching 4 percent of American consumers is not a compelling business case? ... Asian Americans are looking for stories that reflect the diversity and uniqueness of our culture. If the 'new' AZN is just redistributing subtitled foreign-language programs, I doubt that it will succeed. It's not like you can't get that programming already."

Fortunately, at least for now, Asian Americans have other channels to watch. The day after AZN's bleak announcement, MTV launched the second of its three "MTV World" netlets, MTV Chi. "It's sad to hear about AZN -- I'm really not sure what to say," said MTV World general manager Nusrat Durrani. "The bottom line is that we know our own strategy, we know what we're good at and we're very excited about where we are right now."

Meanwhile, dozens of Asian American producers, performers and creative institutions with AZN development deals now find their projects pushed into limbo. The channel had announced plans for a gala Asian Excellence Awards show, to be held in Los Angeles on January 19. Insiders say this year's show will go on, but they won't commit to future years.

Producers of AZN's highly touted original series -- including a million-dollar reality TV series, which followed a quartet of young Asian high school students seeking to attend Ivy League colleges, and a basketball "road show" series created in partnership with the NBA -- have no idea whether their programs will air. Film festivals and media arts programs across the nation, all of which have benefited from AZN sponsorship over the past year, will find themselves without that support, adding further strain on an already unsteady nonprofit community.

But the most troubling concern may be the chilling effect this could have on current and future media for Asian American audiences. After all, if a giant like Comcast can't make a business out of providing Asian Americans with original programming, investors and advertisers might have a hard time believing that anyone can.

"It's hard not to think that this is a major blow for Asian American media," said a senior AZN staffer. "What we were doing with original programming, that was huge. ... This was the shot. The next shot may not come around for years. And it may never come around at all."

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PopMail

Ironically, even as AZN is winding down its ambitious goals, its competitors are cranking up. The Tuesday launch of MTV Chi arrived with the network's typical celeb glory, with global Chinese "It" Girl Zhang Ziyi delivering a brief (but magically delicious) message of goodwill and an invitation-only Manhattan launch party featuring live performances by Asian American indie hitters Kevin So, Johnny Hi-Fi and Putnam Hall, and novelty rap act Notorious M.S.G. Up next: MTV K, the Korean American channel due to hit premium cable in June 2006.

Meanwhile, ImaginAsian says they're set to roll out big on the video-on-demand front, introducing pick-and-watch services for the Indian, Chinese and Korean American markets, followed over the next few years by VOD fodder for Japanese, Vietnamese and Filipinos. Dear Asian American TV fans: Hope floats ...

And holiday multiplexes are brimming with Asian talent, though the results are a mixed bag at best. In the latest "Harry Potter," everyone at Hogwarts is assigned an Asian girl to date for the big winter ball -- Harry and pal Ron go glumly with the Patil Twins (played gamely by Afshan Azad and Shefali Chowdhury), though our boy wizard hero really longs for the demure Cho Chang (Katie Leung, who at least gets to wear a cute cheongsam-inspired formal outfit). Sadly, none of the girls have much to do or say.

Also in theaters, ducking in under the Oscar wire: Rob Marshall's hated/anticipated extravaganza "Memoirs of a Geisha" and Ang Lee's gay cowboy epic "Brokeback Mountain." My thoughts on "Geisha": At least the dance routines are fab, as might be expected from the director of "Chicago." If only he'd embraced the story's inherent camp and shot the thing as a musical (featuring the sound-track hits "All That Enka" and "When You're Good to Mama-san"!) ... That, I'd see twice.

On the other hand, "Brokeback Mountain" is a full-on masterpiece. It's an ode to unrequited love and sexual passive-aggressiveness that will feel familiar even if you're not a cowboy. Or gay, for that matter. Brilliant casting, a spare but wrenchingly excellent script and luxuriant use of Wyoming scenery help make this a deft return to Making Good Movies for Mr. Lee, after his brief stumble in superhero territory. Watch for more on Ang in my next column ...

And speaking of superheroes, readers who are fans of sequential art should head for their local comic outlet of choice and pick up Marvel's "Amazing Fantasy" No. 15, featuring a brand-new story by director-slash-comic-book-auteur Greg Pak. Pak's entry in the graphical jam session is titled "Mastermind Excello" and features as its protagonist a teenage Asian American supergenius named Amadeus Cho. Plus, manga-style art from Takeshi Miyazawa. How can you resist? (A word to the wise: Even if you're too cheap to spring the four bucks, visit the Marvel.com Web site and drop a vote on Pak for free -- the winner of the online poll gets a full miniseries for his character. Hey, it's the holidays.)

Finally, it's time for a little reader interaction. In January, we'll be doing another roundup of the year's best, worst and weirdest in Asian Pop ... your thoughts, suggestions, or snarky comments are welcome, so pile it on and send it in.